It was one of the very few occasions he could remember upon which he had been worsted.
But now--to-night--he was face to face with something of an infinitely more serious nature.

This man with the stern, accusing eyes and wholly merciless attitude--what had he come to say?
An odd sensation stirred at Dacre's heart like an unsteady hand knocking for admittance.

There was something wrong here--- something wrong.
"You--madman!" he said at length, and with the words pulled himself together with a giant effort.

"What in the name of wonder are you doing here ?" He had bitten his cigar through in his astonishment, and he tossed it away as he spoke with a gesture of returning confidence.

He silenced the uneasy foreboding within and met the hard eyes that confronted him without discomfiture.